Stars faced with tough decisions entering second half of back-to-back

Stars (18-14-12, 48 points) vs. Red Wings (16-24-7, 39 points)

DALLAS -- The Stars coaching staff has had its head on a swivel this season, simply adjusting to every curveball thrown its way.
So when the bench team actually has the chance to make a few decisions on its own, that too comes with some challenges. The Stars are playing on back-to-back nights against the same Detroit Red Wings
they beat Monday
in a 3-2 shootout victory. They have an abundance of healthy scratches ready to jump in, but do they use those "fresh legs" to possibly get added energy or do they continue to try to build chemistry with the players who have been a part of a 5-0-2 run?
It's a sticky wicket, as they like to say in cricket.
Dallas acquired defenseman Sami Vatanen on waivers last week and has played him in every game since he has arrived. Two of those games have been played beside Joel Hanley, two have been with Andrej Sekera as a partner. So would this be a game to give Sekera or Vatanen a rest? Or should the coaches continue to try to build the Sekera-Vatanen chemistry?
Likewise, the fourth line has had any combination of Justin Dowling, Rhett Gardner, Tanner Kero, Nick Caamano, Mark Pysyk and Joel L'Esperance. Would it be smart to replace Dowling, Gardner or Kero after they played Monday? It's certainly worth discussing.

Rick Bowness said there will be many game-time decisions. The first, obviously, is if Roope Hintz can play on back-to-back nights, and then the lineup will take shape after that.
As for the philosophical discussion of "fresh legs," Bowness said now is really not the time.
"We've got to put the best lineup that we can every night," Bowness said. "We're still chasing a playoff spot, so we don't have the luxury where we can rest anyone. If they've got to play extra minutes to get the win, then that's what we have to do."
Bowness will go with a different goalie on the second night of a back-to-back, but said he likes the fact that he has been able to build chemistry with his best players. One of the reasons the Stars are on a roll is because the top three lines of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Joe Pavelski; Jason Dickinson, Jamie Benn and Denis Gurianov; and Andrew Cogliano, Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau have been clicking lately.
"It helps us as a coaching staff for sure, but more importantly it helps the players on the ice -- the chemistry that you can develop by playing with the same guys every night," Bowness said. "It's nice that we have that luxury, but the players want to play with the same guys as much as they can, especially when they're having success."

#

Robertson in the running for Calder Trophy

Jason Robertson is in the run for the Calder Trophy, given to the top rookie in the NHL, and there's a pretty good reason why.
Robertson has been on a roll lately and is closing in on Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, who leads NHL rookies in scoring with 37 points in 44 games (0.84 points per game). Robertson now has 33 points in 39 games (0.85 points per game). Robertson had some healthy scratches at the beginning of the season as he was adjusting to the speed and physicality of the NHL, but he learned from watching and now is one of the team's top players; logging 19:38 in ice time Monday, getting off six shot attempts, and scoring a goal.
Bowness said Robertson's grit in getting to the net for a goal in the second period was typical of the progress he has made at the age of 21.
"He's a lot stronger, he's a lot more intense. It starts with that," Bowness said. "It's typical of every young player coming into our league: You have to learn the strength of the players in this league and the intensity of the players in this league, and the passion of which the game is played in this league. It's not a matter of if you are strong enough, it's usually a matter of cranking up your intensity for those battles. So, he is learning that. He is staying on his feet a lot longer and is a lot harder to knock off pucks. So, he's figuring that all out. That is where his strength is, obviously top of circles down around their net.

"Again, you are playing against men and playing against big, strong, physical and intense guys and you have to get used to playing at that level and that tempo."
Robertson said he did a lot of work in the off-season and that's giving him the tools to implement the changes his mind wants to make.
"I think it's just using my frame to my advantage," Robertson said. "I think it's still a learning curve for me to use my strength and use my size in front of the net especially, and you could say I was a bit tentative in the first couple months of the season, so I am trying to get more used to getting into corners, using my body and protecting pucks and winning net-front battles. I am going to continue to work on it and go from there."
If he does, he really could become just the third person in franchise history (Danny Grant in 1969 and Bobby Smith in 1979) to win the Calder.

#

Oettinger gets the start in net

Jake Oettinger will be in net for the Stars.
He beat Columbus on Thursday (4-1) and Saturday (5-1), stopping 38 of 40 shots. Oettinger is 8-5-6 in his rookie season with a 2.16 GAA and .919 save percentage.
In two games against Detroit, Oettinger is 1-1-0 with a 3.06 GAA and .864 save percentage. The first win of his NHL career came against the Red Wings at American Airlines Center on Jan. 28 when the Stars grabbed a 7-3 victory.

#

By the numbers

0.93

Joe Pavelski, 36, is averaging 0.93 points per game, tallying 41 points in 44 games. He has a 0.77 points per game average for his career, and the last time he was this close to a point a game was in 2015-16 when he tallied 78 points in 82 games (0.95) when he was 31 at the time.

103

Gurianov leads the Stars in shots on goal with 103.

99

Kero is one game short of 100 for his NHL career and can reach that milestone if he plays tonight.

He said it

"I think it's his skating. This is the best I've seen him skate in the three years I have been here, he has a lot of jump in his stride. The one thing he is doing so he can maintain that throughout the course of the game is that he's keeping his shifts short. He is not going out there for 45 or 50 seconds, so he is able to maintain that jump in his legs, but he is really skating well. He understands the importance of all of these games, so the level of intensity that he is playing with is very impressive and it rubs off on the other players." -- Bowness on the strong play of Jamie Benn in recent weeks
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.